The ever-increasing demand for seamless connectivity, high capacity, and wider wireless coverage has driven the recent drastic evolution of wireless communication networks.
Despite the massive advancements achieved through the previous generations of wireless systems, approximately four billion people remain unconnected [1]}, most of whom reside in rural areas, underdeveloped areas, and less-developed countries and islands. Achieving adequate wireless connectivity and broadband coverage has been one of the fundamental challenges to wireless communication providers. Such a challenge is accentuated in the present era characterized by the prolific growth of connected devices and data deluge. Hence, while the past five commercial generations of wireless communication systems (i.e., 1G-5G) have focused on improving capacity-related metrics, the communication research community envisions the next generation to focus on democratizing connectivity and information and communications technologies (ICTs) as a universal public utility [1]}. To this end, this work offers one step forward toward providing a ubiquitous connectivity solution anywhere, anytime, by considering a connectivity-from-the-sky platform empowered by cloud computing capabilities.
